Review: Threat of Darkness (Witches Knot 06) by Lauren Dane

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

This book is a spinoff of the Witches Knot series, but can be read alone. 
 Mei is a Warrior for the Balance. She stands between good and evil. So when her boss tells her she's got to head to Tir na nOg to help the Fae she is most displeased. Mei's mother Aine, the queen of the Fae, betrayed and exiled her millennia ago. Or so she's been led to believe. But Aine was misled by her own sister, and suddenly everything Mei has thought was true for thousands of years falls down around her ears as she looks up to see the face of her husband. Her first husband, a man she'd thought was dead. Jayce MacTavish is surprised to find that his wife, thought millennia dead, is alive, but his joy is tempered by the realization that she's got another mate. Mei, Card and Jayce must find a way to be together as three while a threat from the Dark Fae and a new enemy darkens the horizon. 

"Publisher Note: This book contains brief scenes of male/male sexual enjoyment."

My note: just one kiss *snort*. Definitely not worth the publicity it received.

My impressions:

I started to read this novel while on holiday by the sea. I was feeling rather optimistic at the time - you see, it enjoys a pretty high rating average on Goodreads, 4 stars out of 5, nothing less. Why - my mind boggles. It was horrid. It was stupid. It was a fantasy book without one inch of imagination or, well, fantasy. The fact that your characters are fairies, demons, trolls and werewolves DOESN'T mean anything without the proper world build and here there was no such a thing. Still I was the first Goodreads user who actually has given it one star. There must be something wrong: with the universe, with me, with the books and the publishing industry, with the world at large. Horribly, terribly wrong. How cannot people notice? HOW?

It is a relatively short novel - just 133 pages. One third of it consists of sex scenes. Boring, repetitive and schematic sex scenes I must add. Any and every conflict is resolved by either sex or deus-ex-machina magic performed by some gods - Freia and Carl Donovan are among them. Carl Donovan a.k.a. the Donovan is really a strange choice of name for a divine entity but whatever - if you compare it to the fact that all characters of this beauty take the expression "too stupid to live" to quite an insanely low level one inappropriate name is really a minor glitch.

Ponder over this: Mei was imprisoned and tortured by some BDSM demonic afficionados for a millenium. Yes, a millenium of torture and rapes, you read it right. Nobody even thought of looking for her because everybody believed she had been killed in a battle. Why? Her aunt said so. Nobody found the remnants of Mei's body, nobody saw anything but all those great fairies, Mei's mother and her very loving husband, Jaice, among them, assumed that if Eire (the aunt) says Mei is dead then Mei is dead, end of the story. Irrefutable logic, right? 

Then Mei is freed from her prison by Card the half were half demon, soon to be her hubby number two;  after a period of recovery she returns home and she is said that Jaice is dead, her mom doesn't want to see her anymore, she is disinherited and basically she can go and jump to the lake, thank you very much for the visit, don't bother to show your face the second time. Yes, you guessed right: once again her lovely aunt was the source of those completely false revelations. Actually she sent one of Mei's mother flunkies to do the dirty job. What Mei, a clever warrior and a fairy princess several millenia old, does? She believes in every word of that flunkey - without even thinking of contacting anybody else. If you are said by a third party your beloved husband is dead and your mum hates your guts you should ALWAYS believe it straightaway, right? Even without any proof presented? *headdesk*

Then the novel went from bad to worse. Yes, I mean the baddies, whose characterization was non-existent. You see, they are bad because a) they are DARK fae (got it? DARK!!!) and b) they hate humans. Oh well, sometimes I am not so fond of humans either and I dress in black - I bet I am bad too, right? 

Not that the goodies were better, believe me, they were not. Both male interests of the main heroine  could be described very simply as a red-headed, long-braided Scot with great physique (Jaice) and a half-werewolf half-demon with yellow eyes and great physique (Card). Here you go - now you know everything there is to know about them. I bet plenty of male catwalk models show more of their personality during an average photo session than those two. Their main role is to satisfy Mei in bed (or anywhere else if the mood strikes) and generally take care of her.  If you are now wondering I rush to add the crucial bit of info: both do it at the same time. Mostly. In order to spoil you even further: they are her two husbands and they are fond of each other as well. How come? Magic! Nothing else is needed in a successful relationship, right? (btw thanks Tasha/heidenkind for that little beauty below!)

If only magic extended also to the plot, the dialogues and the overall writing quality...unfortunately the plot was HIGHLY predictable, I bet my dog would guess any major turn and twist without any problem, the dialogues were wooden infodumps full of cliches and maudlin love and/or independence declarations (independence so you knew Mei is kick-ass), some sentences were clearly grammatically incorrect and after reaching the half point I decided I really don't need to torture myself any longer so I dumped it. Still I amused myself with  checking the finale grande. Yes, I guessed EVERYTHING right.  What joy ;(

Final verdict:

So not for me that I can hardly contain myself, limiting the amount of expletives to zero. If you want to know how a fantasy erotica novel looks when gone completely awry, read this one but don't blame me afterwards - you have been warned.

Rameau's Review Archive: Shades of Desire by Virna DePaul

Rameau's ramblings: Gah, this was horrible. Originally posted on Goodreads on May 20th 2012.
 
Synopsis:
WHAT SHE CAN'T SEE COULD KILL HER. 

Natalie Jones is the lucky survivor of an elusive killer who preys on young women and then disappears from view. And since her harrowing ordeal, the once gutsy photojournalist has remained isolated in her home, paralyzed by fear and her failing vision. 

Special Agent Liam "Mac" McKenzie has scars of his own. But despite his efforts to ignore the attraction that simmers between him and Natalie, he needs her help to catch a predator. Soon, they will forge a tentative alliance-charged with desire. Through a soft-focus lens, Natalie dares to envision a future with Mac beyond the investigation...never guessing that the clues hidden within her photographs are drawing them into an explosive confrontation with a madman.

Shades of Desire by Virna DePaul

I started this book thinking of giving it a solid three stars and hoping for the fourth. Instead of something extra, I found all the plot threads of a promising premise slipping through my fingers until only thing left was bitter disappointment.

Let's start with the characterisations. What characterisations? The characters do and react as it suits the scene and situation rather than following some internal compass that guides them through life even with the needle improperly calibrated. To this moment I can't tell you what Natalie or Mac is supposed to be like. I can tell you the events that supposedly helped to make them who they are because I read the infodumps, but based on their actions showed in this book they remain a mystery to me.

Because of the poor characterisations, the pacing doesn't work either. It's not as bad a situation in the beginning where the focus is on the investigation, but when Natalie and Mac meet, it soon unravels into their incomprehensible instant attraction. Of course they don't really spend time getting to know each other like normal people would, but they snipe at each other to add to the tension, I suppose. The evolution of their relationship is minimal to the point that their sexual encounter feels like it's coming out of the blue even though all the trope warning signs are there. This is because majority of the book Natalie and Mac are apart.

The book is written in third limited with alternating points of views from the hero and heroine and the villains of the story. Yes, that was a plural. At first those glimpses into the criminal psyche were the part I enjoyed reading, but then all subtlety was thrown out and replaced with full-scale infodumping.

This isn't a character driven storyline. This reads like a book that had a mapped out structure before the characters were shoehorned into it. It leaves the distasteful feeling of forced plot progression. Things don't develop naturally, but they are poked and prodded to the right direction by obvious deus ex machinas. I guess it could have been better, had the quality of the writing been good enough to distract from these obvious flaws. Though, I must admit, even then this book wouldn't have made on my favourites shelf.

In my status updates I mentioned the lack of research or feel of it. I might have been overly harsh, but the fact remains that I didn't feel like whatever research had been done did shine through the text. Random titbits about the everyday life of a blind person were thrown in, but they weren't integrated into the text to help bring Natalie's character alive. This, once again, highlights the problematic characterisation.

There's one, highly spoilerish thing I must mention. If you plan on reading this book, don't click to open the tags. I mean it. (view spoiler)[Natalie has supposedly had her tubes tied when she was twenty-five-years-old. I admit I was speed reading at this point, but nowhere was it mentioned that she had to go through a rigorous process to get the operation. There's no mention of psychiatric appointments or reluctant doctors. I don't know if things truly are so different on this side of the pond or if it's simply a failure on the authors part.

I point this out, because my mother's friend was deadly afraid of getting pregnant and giving birth. She had had her tubes tied at the earliest opportunity after the doctors agreed to do it. She didn't have any children and she'd just turned forty. As she lay on the table they still kept asking her if she was sure she wanted to go through with it.

No way do I believe Natalie could have had her tubes tied that young and easy. She would have had to meet with a counsellor of some sort and as afraid as Natalie was about going mad like her mother I doubt she'd agreed to it. And had she, I highly doubt the counsellor would have green-lighted the operation (hide spoiler)].

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Rameau's Review Archive: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Rameau's ramblings: This is one of those books everyone recommended to me and once again I'm the odd one out. Originally posted on Goodreads on March 21st 2013.

Synopsis:

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games at the Battle School; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. Ender is the most talented result of Earth's desperate quest to create the military genius that the planet needs in its all-out war with an alien enemy.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? The only way to find out is to throw the child into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.

But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Formics has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways.

Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I am disgusted.

I am so thoroughly disgusted with this book that I can’t even logically explain my utter revulsion. Ender’s Game reads like propaganda, and the characters in it are living it. It wasn’t until I saw the comparison to Adolf Hitler that I thought of Hitler Junge, but it makes sense. These kids are brainwashed into becoming soldiers, killers, and they’re never given a choice.

Except it’s much worse than that. Ender actually learns to doubt, to disobey, to choose, and he chooses wrong. (view spoiler)[He chooses mass murder. To add insult to injury, he writes a book about it and gives voice to the voiceless, to the dead. (hide spoiler)] How is that different from any other conqueror rewriting the history to suit them?

If this were a normal review, I’d remark upon the failed, nonexistent characterisations, the lack of character growth or lessons learned, the lack of actual challenges overcome (how can he overcome anything when he never fails?), the lack of plot that isn’t told in short paragraphs as in passing. But this isn’t a normal review and I’m just going to link you to better articles about the story itself.

Rameau's Revie Archive: Taxes and TARDIS by N. R. Walker

Rameau's ramblings: Apparently according to Goodreads this edition is no longer available. Hmm. I wonder why. Originally posted on Goodreads on December 19th 2012. 

Synopsis:
Brent Kelly is a laid-back tradesman whose only concerns are drinks with friends and which man to bed next. In need of a new accountant to sort out his nightmarish shoebox of tax receipts, he's referred to Logan Willis. He doesn't expect to be intrigued by the science fiction-loving, geeky guy with dark-rimmed glasses and a TARDIS-blue shirt. So his fascination with the soft-spoken Englishman surprises him, and their mutual attraction is completely unexpected. He most certainly never expects to fall in love. One a jock and the other a geek, both men know the differences between them are vast and could cause problems. But in this opposites-attract erotic drama, maybe it's the differences between them that make staying together worth the fight.

Taxes and TARDIS by N.R. Walker

I liked the Tardis coloured shirt and nothing else. Even the occasional witty lines were depressing because, obviously, everything else had been sacrificed for them.

Brent and Logan meet, they have sex—a lot—and they apparently fall in love. The only reason I know this is because they say so at the end. I couldn’t detect any sort of character development or sketching in between every single romantic cliché imaginable and the fanfiction-like writing.

What’s it called when a porn-without-a-plot story tries to introduce and is ruined by brief plot-like scenes? Whatever it is, this book suffers from it. And to add insult to injury the smut isn’t even that good.

I’ve read my share of original romantic stories revolving around Doctor Who fandom, and some of them were even good. This wasn’t.

Rameau's Review Archive: Galley Proof by Eric Arvin

Rameau's ramblings: Originally posted on Goodreads on March 21st 2012. 

Synopsis:
Fiction writer Logan Brandish is perfectly happy in his peaceful small-town routine with his best friend, his cat, and his boyfriend—until he meets the editor of his next book, the handsome Brock Kimble, and the lazy quiet of everyday living goes flying out the window. Faced with real passion for the first time, Logan becomes restless and agitated, and soon his life and his new manuscript—a work in progress he’d always thought would be completed—are in a shambles.

But as Logan is learning, you can’t always get what you want… at least not right away. To take his mind off the mess, he takes a trip, but even the beautiful Italian, um, scenery can’t keep his thoughts from his erstwhile editor for long. Logan just might have to admit there are some things you can’t run from.

Galley Proof by Eric Arvin

Everybody has read those books–usually they come with horrendous cover art–that start with an apparent self-ironic scene that tries to justify using a cliché. It's some trope that has been beaten, hit, struck, battered, hammered, trashed, pummelled, and flattened to the ground ages ago. And for a while it works.

The author works his ass off and makes the first person past tense voice of his character sound like something hilarious, something new, refreshing, and witty. Then he crosses the line from a fine comedy to unadulterated spoof and ruins the effect. If you, the reader, are very lucky the narrative still sounds entertaining enough to carry through to the end and lets you finish a book instead of feeding your DNF pile.

If you're very, extremely, exceptionally, not-that-uncommonly-at-all unfortunate, you'll end up with a WTF face and whole lot of wasted hours. Hours of your life that you'll never be able to reclaim. At which point you either decide to move on and give this author a wide berth in the future, or you decide to give something back to the reading community and write a longwinded review that starts with a handful of meta-paragraphs sure to annoy innocent review readers.



Welcome to my life.

This book reads like an autobiography trying to be self-ironic and falling short by miles. It's like the author decided to skip coming up with anything original or fictional and instead document his day-to-day life in the publishing world. Maybe his editor told him to throw in a few outrageous characters and give them the kind of urban legend lives you only hear around the water cooler or wherever the workers go to smoke illicitly. Maybe the author was bored and decided to imitate a handful of his idols–in one book.

Whatever led to the creation and publication of this book, is everything that's wrong with the publishing industry today. This book is unbalanced, tactless, and inane. If it had to be published, why couldn't it be an in-house newsletter to amuse the people who are able to recognise and appreciate the publishing jokes. If it had to be published as a gay romance novel or erotica wannabe, why not write one. If this had to be published at all, why not just do it and NOT market it as something it's not.

This book is mislabelled as a gay romance. It's mislabelled as a romance. There's no romance here. There is simply a string of sex scenes and fuckbuddies without anything resembling a plot.

Also, Arvin went there. He had the ex-editor-fuckbuddy-friend attack-comment on a one star rating-review. How is this any better than the author–still talking about the book characters, just want to make it clear for Goodreads staff–himself commenting on a negative review? Just having it in the book is like condoning bad behaviour and I've had my limit. I would have given this book one star regardless, this just removed any guilt I might have felt.

Had Galley Proof been shelved under general fiction I might be more forgiving to the abrupt style changes and the utter lack of the thin red line that connects it all, but it wasn't and I'm not. If only Arvin had said what he made his character say:

"I have decided it's not worth my time to write nor is it worth her time to read."

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

You can also read this review on Sandra's My Fiction Nook-blog.

Review: Shaedes of Gray (Shaede Assassin 01) by Amanda Bonilla

Book info:
Form: pdf, e-book
Genre: paranormal romance, urban fantasy
Target audience: adults

 Synopsis (from Goodreads):

"I'd learned the hard way that love is nothing more than the sharpest blade, and it can easily be turned against you. I refused to let anyone have that kind of power over me ever again."

Darian has lived alone for almost a century in the shadows of the night. Made and abandoned by her former love, Darian is the last of her kind—an immortal Shaede who can slip into darkness as easily as breathing. With no one else to rely on, she has taught herself how to survive, using her unique skills to become a deadly assassin.

Darian finds herself struggling to keep her employer, Tyler, at arm's length, especially since his seductive smile makes her want to break her rules about love. The work he offers is necessary to protect the innocent—and a welcome distraction. But when Darian's next mark turns out to be Xander Peck, King of the Shaede Nation, her whole worldview is thrown into question. Darian begins to wonder if she has taken on more than her conscience will allow, but a good assassin never leaves a job unfinished.

My impressions or rather...a list of sins with the appropriate quotes to illustrate my points better :

1.
"I wore my signature black—tight pants, low on my waist; long-sleeved black nylon turtleneck that clung to every curve of my body; black boots (of course); and, to top it off, a long black duster. I admit, the coat was a little over the top, but I love dramatics."

Dear Darian- are you an assassin or a fashionista ? Who cares what you wear to work? A tip – not me. Wardrobe descriptions are so boring, especially in fantasy action books, that they should be banned unless they actually contribute to the plot. Not your case, I presume.

2.
"God, he smelled good. Comforting, like fresh-baked cinnamon bread or something equally delicious and loaded with rich spices. His unique scent swirled around in my head, and I wanted nothing more than to lean into him, feel the weight of his arms around me as I breathed him in. But then my common sense gave me a swift kick in the ass."

Olfactory overload alert – honestly, Darian, I don’t need and I don’t want to know how you think Tyler smells. I wish your common sense kicked your ass much earlier – if a guy smells so much his personal grooming level must be abysmal.

3.
"Ty never overdid it in the clothing department. He was a jeans and T-shirt guy all the way, but he knew how to make the simple garments complement his lean, muscular body. Tyler’s not even a notch below Calvin Klein underwear-model physique, and has a tousled mop of goldand-bronze-streaked hair and strange hazel eyes—green with a brownish star surrounding the pupil. A garbage bag would’ve looked like an Armani suit on him."

No, not fashion again, please, I promise, I will be good from now on, I’ll tell you everything, just don’t torture me with fashion…by the way that’s the best characterization of Tyler you can get. He is like a paper cut, heavily photoshoped male model who can’t exist because the evolution wouldn’t be so dumb to allow him to – it would be a complete waste of oxygen.

4.
"He needed to forget about me and find himself a pretty human woman to grow old and die with. And then I’d be truly alone. Wouldn’t I? 
Rain pattered against the round toes of my thick-soled boots, and I watched the drops splatter like the tears I refused to shed."

There is nothing worse than an assassin talking fashion – unless you can find an emo assassin talking alternately fashion and self-pitying rubbish chapter after chapter. Darian, I am looking at you right now.

5.
"I looked like a Goth kid’s wet dream, sitting in my black sex-kitten outfit, sipping a rum and Coke, exuding little to no emotion on the outside while my insides writhed like angry vipers."

My first general remark: your ego, dear girl, needs some pruning asap or one day you will die under it, literally crushed by its weight. My second general remark: if you wear a black sex-kitten outfit to work then you are not an assassin, you are a prostitute. My third general remark: you seem to be having diarrhoea and you aren’t aware of it– my commiserations.

6.
"Even from across the apartment, his eyes held me captive. Melted caramel flecked with gold, possessing the bright glow that I knew mine had, though his were more brilliant. The smell of him permeated the air, filling my studio with a sweetness that would put a field of wildflowers to shame. His lips curled up at the corners, hinting at an arrogant smile."

Meet Xander Peck, an overripe hottie Darian failed to murder; another jerk who will invade and foul clean air around you like an unpleasant air freshener in a dirty car. Put on your gas mask, quick!

7.
"Abandoning my signature black, I was decked out in white from head to toe. My white-on-white striped blouse buttoned up to the swell of my breasts, with my white bra visible underneath. I’d tucked the shirt into a white pencil skirt that reached to my white satin heels and hugged my hips perfectly. Business attire, to an extent."

Business attire? With a visible bra and satin heels? Unless, once again, you mean THAT kind of business…with an additional wedding-themed kink.

8.
"Despite his outrage, Tyler knew I was no delicate flower. In fact, once he’d said that I could probably take on an entire company of Navy SEALs and kill them before they knew I was there. He was right, of course."

*rolleyes* And who is a shameless, stupid braggart again? Darian of course. Honestly if your main character says such things about herself you can't help despising her.

9.
"But I kept my standards high, refusing to take any job that involved an innocent. The men who paid me eventually met their ends. Once or twice at my hand. I’d worked for a Russian mob boss for years, and just like the others, his luck had run out. That’s when I met Tyler."

Who do you think you’re fooling, Darian? High standards, no innocents involved, and a Russian mob? Pull the other one, it’s got bells on. By the way who died and made you God to distinguish between innocents and guilty?

10.

All the sins have been taken from the first part only, mind you. Add to those: an insufferable love triangle, insta-lust, nonexistent female characters other than the heroine, a very awkward, 1st person limited narration which can be put to shame by many fanfic authors, woody dialogues, infodumps galore, a freakin’ katana and you get something I mistook for a novel and is, in fact, a collection of dumbest, most obnoxious cliches. 

Final verdict:

An unintelligent being with an overinflated opinion of herself gets beat up by anything not human, still never learns, and is annoyingly vulnerable to masculine good looks. And forget about the Bechdel test because who needs company of other women when there are GUYS around. Your life should completely revolve around guys even if you are that kick-ass assassin chick, right?

A DNF, nuff said.

Rameau's Review Archive: Gold Mountain by Sharon Cullars

Rameau's ramblings: I had high hopes for this book once. Originally posted on Goodreads November 21st 2012.

Synopsis:
In 1865, the hope for gold has spurred many to seek their fortunes in California, the place the Chinese call Gum San or "Gold Mountain." Amidst this backdrop, Quiang, a new Chinese immigrant, works the dangerous rails hoping to save enough money to send home to his parents. In town, Leah and Clara, two enterprising women from New York, have plans of their own to grow a restaurant and laundry business. However, both plans go awry when Quiang and Leah meet one fateful day. What starts as a budding attraction soon grows into tumultuous desire despite the cultural and language barriers between them.

Initially resistant, Leah succumbs to passion following a tragic loss that leaves her vulnerable and alone. With hopes for a future that now includes Leah, Quiang embarks on a perilous path as he leaves the railroad behind for a more profitable position as a courier for The Tong, henchmen for the dangerous Triad. Quiang soon finds that navigating the secretive life of a courier brings more danger than he has ever faced on the railroad, dangers that not only threaten to tear him and Leah apart, but may cost them their lives as well.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content and graphic language.

Gold Mountain by Sharon Cullars

This review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.

It’s been six months but I remember buying this book because I’d seen a semi-positive review on a blog—Dear Author probably—and because a romance of a mixed-race couple in the 1860’s Wild West sounded intriguing. Especially since neither character is white.

Unfortunately the story didn’t live up to its promise.

I did like the start of the book, although I did think it somewhat boring. The author spends a lot of time setting the scene and describing the life of a Chinese worker building the railroads for a pittance and the life of a black single woman trying to build a new life and a business for herself and her friend. Bias, racism, sexism, it’s all there and prevalent in the vernacular.

As if that’s not enough to create obstacles to the couple’s happiness, there’s also their inability to fully understand each other. Quiang speaks but a little English and he and Leah have to communicate through gestures, looks, and touches.

There’s all this, and what does the author do with it? Nothing. Cullars glosses over all the difficult—and rewarding—steps of a meaningful relationship building and focuses on the paper thin physical attraction instead. There’s a brief mention of how Leah and Quiang learn to communicate with the help of a dictionary, but they don’t really talk to each other. When they’re together they’re either taking their clothes of and having sex or putting their clothes on and thinking about having sex. And those sex scenes are bad. There’s creaming and there’s tumescence, there’s orbs and there’s the infamous “her sex” euphemism.

After all that, the story and my rating for it could have been saved had I bought Quiang’s interactions with the triad members. I can’t really pinpoint my problem with them, but something in the language used left me unconvinced. It wasn’t just Wao’s refusal to call an erection an erection, it was also how the revelation of the misappropriation was handled. Until then, I had liked Quiang’s willingness to engage in shady businesses for quick profit and that both characters had such defined lives outside each other, after it just felt anticlimactic.

I didn’t want a happily ever after epilogue, I wanted to read how they get there.

So what does the book have? Good historical description with nascent characterisations, but without any real character or relationship development, and a whiff of Wild West adventures. It simply wasn’t enough for me.

Rameau's Review Archive: Heart of the Druid Laird by Barbara Longley

Rameau's ramblings: Originally posted on Goodreads on November 17th 2011.

Synopsis:
Cursed with immortality, Dermot MacKay craves death. To lift the faerie curse placed upon him and his men over 1,600 years ago, he must return the soul of his reincarnated wife to the exact place and time of her murder. But her soul is currently residing in the very modern Sidney St. George--and first he has to convince her to accompany him to Scotland.

Sidney doesn't believe Dermot's wild claims of immortality and rebirth, yet she cannot deny that she is drawn to the sexy Scot. Nor can she explain the sense of deja vu his touch elicits. Desperate for answers, she agrees to go with him--only to learn too late that to help the man she loves is to lose him forever...


Heart of the Druid Laird by Barbara Longley


Critique should always have both good and bad points. I'll try.

The premise looked so promising. Although, I'm not a fan of fairies in general I thought this just might be the book to change my mind, and in that Heart of the Druid Laird succeeded. The fairies were easily the best part of this book.

See, it's working. Good news comes first and there's more.

I also really liked the structure of the plot. The author obviously knows how to plan events ahead while to give herself some room for manoeuvring. All the plot twists were well set up and logical and the pacing was decent. There were no out of the blue surprises behind the corners, but there was that telltale glow that warns about a speeding car.

And I really enjoyed Tommy and Zoe and their little side romance. They made the perfect addition so as not to burden the main couple with too much of the background reveal. Info dump nicely avoided and a golden star to the author.

Unfortunately, this was it. Now on to the bad.

Let's start with the ridiculous. For a while now I've been aware of the fact that historical fiction is just that, fiction. As much as I'd like to think all men of old were nearly two metres tall and build like muscle towers, I know they weren't. Their nutritional status wouldn't have allowed it. I can suspend belief for one or three exceptionally well-built historical heroes at the time and enjoy the fluffy romance while they swoop their tiny, fragile heroines of their feet. But there's a limit to this good will of mine, and that limit is five. I find five 1650-year-old, extra tall hunks walking down the street in formation ridiculous. When the number is upped to thirteen, it becomes absurd.

Shall we move on to the language then? Longley didn't overdo the Scottish accent apart from a handful of lines in dialogue, but the little touches she chose to use to imply the accent didn't work well for me. I stumbled over every single no' (not) even when I managed to get through the lines of heavier brogue.

This, however, was not my pet peeve. That honour falls on the cursing with all the effings and soddings and such. For majority of the book everyone acts like their mother is eavesdropping just behind the corner ready to rap them on the knuckles for saying a rude word. Then when things get tense and the climax approaches they suddenly start dropping asses, arses, and shits. A few pages later, after the threat has been resolved, they go back to being prissy. Continuity, this book has none.

None of these little mishaps are as dire failure as is the utterly bollocksed characterisation. I'm at a loss what to make of these characters. They continuously say and claim to think one thing, and then go on acting in the exact opposite manner. Dermot is supposed to get Sidney to Scotland to lift the curse and not get tangled up and hurt the girl's feelings, but he promptly starts wooing her. Later on, he blames her for distracting him before he could tell her the truth, which, might I add, would have simplified the plot substantially. She's supposed to be this hard boiled single woman who doesn't date or even look at a man twice, but she melts into a puddle of goo just from looking at him. You can imagine the level of sexual attraction when he starts to speak.

Yeah, not so much. Didn't work for me. Sidney's crying fits and whiplash reactions to the truth (once finally shared with her) make her the first character to earn a place on my new vapid-insipid-divas-and-ingénues shelf. Until her, I hadn't felt tempted enough to make one.

The bad characterisation extends to Zoe and David, Sidney's friend, and brother, who basically act like a deus ex machina to get the unhappy couple together. Aside from Tommy, the muscle gang doesn't win in the personality lotto. Lachlan gets closest with few hits.

What really ends up killing this book for me, though, is the manufactured drama. With a set up like this, a reincarnation, a cursed immortality, and a choice between loving and letting go, there's no need for all the fights originated from miscommunication. Dermot and Sidney have enough on their plate with a fairy princess and their growing feelings for each other interfering with the lifting of the curse, so they don't really need to be getting their wires crossed too.

A good critique should always end up on a positive note.

I can't complain about the grammar or editing.


You can also read this review on Sandra's My Reading Nook-blog.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Rameau's Review Archive: Rakkautta rivien välissä (Past Secrets) by Cathy Kelly

Rameau's Ramblings: I read the Finnish translation of Past Secrets and reviewed it on July 6th 2011

Synopsis: 
They all hide secrets that won't go away....

From the outside, the welcoming, garden-adorned houses of Summer Street are the picture of Irish charm. But on the inside, unexpected and heartbreaking secrets swirl. At house number thirty-two, hardworking, single-mother Faye Reid conceals the truth about her marriage from her fiery daughter, Amber. But Amber, a budding artist, also hides something from her all-too-trusting mother: a relationship with a rock star hopeful for whom she plans to throw away her future. And at number forty-eight, Maggie Maguire arrives at her childhood home to help her sick mother, a welcome distraction from the life she left behind and the startling secret she's hiding -- from herself.

And only become harder to keep...

At thirty-four Summer Street, wise and kind Christie Devlin has the remarkable ability to see into the lives and hearts of others -- and may have the answers when her neighbors' carefully hidden secrets bubble to the surface. But when Christie's own past comes back to haunt her -- posing a threat to her picture-perfect marriage -- this time the answers aren't as clear.

Rakkautta rivien välissä by Cathy Kelly


I honestly don't have a clue why I finished reading this one. Except that the paperback was lying on my desk for weeks and I needed something safe (as in I wasn't risking my Kindle) to read while travelling. I was expecting some kind of romance novel maybe with a bit more mature and realistic approach and that's about as much as I got.

What I didn't expect were three different novels in one about three different characters I never got the chance to like or care about. The only connecting thread was the name of the street and everything else promised in the first third of the book. The writing was perfunctory and so was the editing, apparently, because that's the only explanation I can think of for reading about someone picking up the phone and getting to the dialogue only a page later. Too often the author would go down these cul-de-sacs to explain something that had happened earlier instead of getting to the point.

The characters got their happy ending and while I can see the logic in the pats they took to get there, I never cared one bit.

Unless you're a devoted fan of the author, I'd give this one a miss.

Rameau's Review Archive: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Rameau's Ramblings: Those were the days. Originally posted on Goodreads on October 24th 2011.

Synopsis:
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series--dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.


Divergent by Veronica Roth

This is one of those reviews that's going to earn me a bad name for going against every single review for this book on my timeline. I know I'm fixating on the smallest thing, but that's how my mind works. I simply can't help it. I have to be painfully honest about this.

It's bad when you can't get past the first page without serious prompting from friends and a fanfic high, isn't it? And it's not because Roth can't write, she absolutely can, beautifully and enticingly once you get going. It's because I made the fundamental mistake of looking for sense where there was none.

It was the hair.

I'm not spoiling anything because this all happens right at the beginning of chapter one.

I truly couldn't get past the hair. What's the point of cutting her hair every three months, four times a year, if it's still long enough to be tied on a knot? It doesn't matter how long the hair is on the knot as long as it's long enough to make one. Split ends? They're Abnegations, supposed to veer towards selflessness, they're not supposed to notice or care. Appearances aren't supposed to matter to Abnegations. Even their food is plain.

The scene was about the mother taking care of her daughter, you tell me. It's still vanity and an indication of the lives modern city women lead, if this is what they consider normal.

I have long hair which is often tied on a knot. I get it cut or trimmed twice a year, at most. More often, if I want to keep my chemically induced curls, but that would be considered flaunting and I wouldn't fit in Abnegation then.

Speaking of which, I wouldn't fit in any of the factions this society is divided in. Not even the rogue Divergent faction. That's how artificial the setting is and that is how unbelievable it is to me.

There's no way this kind of society could spring from the ashes of war ravaged earth. I don't buy it for a second. And with that crumbles everything beautiful and true the author tried to convey. The love and loyalty? I simply didn't care.

But if you do, if you find yourself swept away by the futile and the pretty, it is an entertaining novel on a certain superficial level. I'm just sad I couldn't find that level when I started reading this book.

No, wait. I'm not sorry. I'm more complicated a person than that and that's the way I like it.

Factionless, out.

Rameau's Review Archive: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Rameau's Ramblings: This is from when I'd just started reviewing books properly and putting some thought into it. If you can call it that. Originally posted on Goodreads on April 26th 2011. 
Oh, and look at that. This is a

 


Synopsis: 
From the acclaimed author of The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans, a moving new novel that subtly reimagines our world and time in a haunting story of friendship and love.

As a child, Kathy – now thirty-one years old – lived at Hailsham, a private school in the scenic English countryside where the children were sheltered from the outside world, brought up to believe that they were special and that their well-being was crucial not only for themselves but for the society they would eventually enter. Kathy had long ago put this idyllic past behind her, but when two of her Hailsham friends come back into her life, she stops resisting the pull of memory.

And so, as her friendship with Ruth is rekindled, and as the feelings that long ago fueled her adolescent crush on Tommy begin to deepen into love, Kathy recalls their years at Hailsham. She describes happy scenes of boys and girls growing up together, unperturbed – even comforted – by their isolation. But she describes other scenes as well: of discord and misunderstanding that hint at a dark secret behind Hailsham’s nurturing facade. With the dawning clarity of hindsight, the three friends are compelled to face the truth about their childhood–and about their lives now.

A tale of deceptive simplicity, Never Let Me Go slowly reveals an extraordinary emotional depth and resonance – and takes its place among Kazuo Ishiguro’s finest work.


Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro


There's this thing I like to call the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-effect. Some tie it to Inception instead, but for me that would oversimplifying things. Regardless what you call it, the basic idea is, you either get it or you don't.

However, in this case, it's difficult to get anything in the absence of substance.

The average rating of this book makes me think people are afraid to admit that even a revered author can sometimes write a book worth less than the paper it's printed on. And with the current electricity prices, the kindle edition is plain old robbery.

The writing is apathetic and detached making connecting with the characters impossible, which is very bad for a novel that's supposed to be character driven. It certainly isn't a good sign when the most unlikeable of the main three is the most relatable of the characters.

Kathy, the narrator, is insipid, back boneless shell of a human being who constantly bad mouths the supposed love of her life. The name calling, however, wasn't the only reason why the token romance of this book turned out be unconvincing and dubious at best.

In the end, it was the utter lack of emotion - and plot - that killed the story. I refuse to believe that anyone could be so dispassionate about sex with someone they claim to love, especially when the written description of their first sexual act nears rape - no consent was given or asked. That along with the decimation of the last plot strings downgraded this book from it's possible three star maximum to one.

Rameau's Review Archive: The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins — 3 in 1

Originally posted on my long forgotten personal blog and imported to Goodreads in January 2011. Spoilers ahead.

Synopsis (for the first book):
Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning? 

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. 

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. 

If she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

(My rating: 4 of 5 stars)

I liked it. I didn't hate Katniss which is always a big plus for me and I enjoyed the story as well.

I just wish this is where the story had ended.



Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (My rating: 2 of 5 stars)
No character growth for Katniss what so ever. Okay, she was scarred by the events at the arena and yadda yadda yadda, but this was one of the times I was actually waiting for the triangle to kick off. I've heard people say that they couldn't wait to read the third book after finishing this one, but I was not one of those people. I just wanted to forget I'd ever read it. I should have done just that.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The book that ended the trilogy and could have saved the story ended up destroying everything I liked about the first book. The preachy tone couldn't be ignored any longer neither could the destruction of my favourite character, Gale. He should not have been equated with War and Peeta with Love. Katniss was a bitch that deserved to die a miserable death alone. That is if I could be bothered to care enough.

The worst, though, was that I could see it all coming and still I finished reading the book. Masochist that I am.

It's pretty safe to say that I won't be reading Suzanne Collins' work any more.

Quotes and Notes Review: Inferno by Dan Brown

 Perseus, Piazza della Signoria, Florence (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am trying officially a new reviewing format. It is not the first time I've done such a review but finally I found a proper name for it: I called it "quotes and notes" because it roughly consists of quotes taken from a book and my comments, nothing else. I feel some books cannot be reviewed in another way.

Inferno. 

I admit shamelessly it was a horrible novel but also I was enjoying myself immensely while reading and writing about it . You see, it was so bad that it was actually funny. :) I decided to illustrate my review with some good art to provide a nice balance. After all Florence is indeed one of the most beautiful cities of the world, with the most stunning art pieces scattered around it.

Our sweetest hero, Robert Langdon, is lying in a Florence hospital bed. Florence in Italy, Europe, the Earth, the Solar system, third planet from the Sun. He is dreaming of an elderly but beautiful, silver-haired woman; she standing near a bloody river, full of bodies. All of a sudden…

“She pointed now to a writhing pair of legs, which protruded upside down from the earth, apparently belonging to some poor soul who had been buried headfirst to his waist. The man’s pale thigh bore a single letter—written in mud—R.R? Langdon thought, uncertain. As in … Robert? “Is that … me?””


No, Mr. Langdon. I am glad to inform you this is your creator. ‘R’ means 'rich and rotten writer', perhaps also ‘rabid’. Like in ‘rabid theories’ or ‘rabid fiction’. As you maybe remember symbology is a tricky subject – one sign or letter might have more than meaning. You see? Who can say Dan Brown’s books can’t teach you a thing or two?

Ok, enough of waffling, here comes the bride our new female lead:

“She appeared to be in her early thirties. She wore blue scrubs and had tied her blond hair back in a thick ponytail that swung behind her as she walked.“I’m Dr. Sienna Brooks,” she said, giving Langdon a smile as she entered. (…)Tall and lissome, Dr. Brooks moved with the assertive gait of an athlete. Even in shapeless scrubs, she had a willowy elegance about her. Despite the absence of any makeup that Langdon could see, her complexion appeared unusually smooth, the only blemish a tiny beauty mark just above her lips. Her eyes, though a gentle brown, seemed unusually penetrating, as if they had witnessed a profundity of experience rarely encountered by a person her age. ”

Mmm… appetizing indeed! A lissome blonde with chocolate eyes? And a British doctor to boot, with a good, practical knowledge of…er…human anatomy? A tiny beauty mark you say? Oh, Langdon, you old lecher! I suppose your bachelorhood years will finally come to an end. *insert here a powerful, desperate sigh of all those ladies, matrons and teen girls secretly in love with our hero. Half of them will dye their hair if they get a moment or two to spare. Next time you see a sea of peroxide blondes swishing their ponytails, natural or artificial, in public you will know why – call it the Langdon effect. The hottest fashion around at the moment.*

“(…) a powerfully built woman effortlessly unstraddled her BMW motorcycle and advanced with the intensity of a panther stalking its prey. Her gaze was sharp. Her close-cropped hair—styled into spikes —stood out against the upturned collar of her black leather riding suit. She checked her silenced weapon, and stared up at the window where Robert Langdon’s light had just gone out.”

Woo-hoo, it seems it will be a very feminist installment! Women everywhere, even among the baddies! You go, Hell’s Angels Mama! (pst, pst, her name is Vayentha. Cool, isn’t it? *giggle*).

Now comes the first awww moment. Could I have your attention, ladies and gentlemen (ok, mostly ladies)? Handkerchiefs and Kleenexes ready?

“Sienna Brooks gazed absently out the kitchen window and wondered where the day would lead her. (…) She knew it was probably just the adrenaline, but she found herself strangely attracted to the American professor. In addition to his being handsome, he seemed to possess a sincerely good heart. In some distant, alternate life, Robert Langdon might even be someone she could be with. He would never want me, she thought. I’m damaged.”

 A vertical panorama of a copy of the statue of David by Michelangelo on the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now repeat after me: AWWWWWWWWWWWW…wasn’t it sweet?

But wait a moment… they’ve just met; I grant you, she saw him almost naked in hospital but then she took him barely conscious home so they hardly talked at all and all of a sudden she knows he has a very good…heart!? Neither nose, nor face, nor biceps, nor buttocks nor tights nor abs but heart? Hey, Sienna, what made her think so? How could you possibly see his heart/or what did he do to make you assume that much? Fainted?

Oh, never mind, who would care about such trifles when right afterwards the adrenaline junkies are going to get their fix. Are you prepared, gentlemen and ladies (but now mostly gentlemen)? Grip your armrests and here it goes:

“The spike-haired woman had just entered, but Langdon could not fathom how she had gotten the address. Adrenaline coursed through his system, disjointing his thought process once again. “My own government sent someone to kill me?” Sienna looked equally astounded. “Robert, that means the original attempt on your life at the hospital also was sanctioned by your government.” She got up and double-checked the lock on the apartment door. “If the U.S. Consulate has permission to kill you …” She didn’t finish the thought, but she didn’t have to. The implications were terrifying.”

Go Vayentha, go! By the way you know your government sucks if even Robert Langdon jumps to conclusions and immediately starts accusing them of the worst. I hope Mr. Obama and all the Americans will read this book and take the necessary steps - PR, stupid!

“As his men disappeared into the apartment building, Brüder stood watch at the front door, pulling out his comm device and contacting the person in charge.
“It’s Brüder,” he said. “We’ve successfully tracked Langdon through his computer IP address. My team is moving in. I’ll alert you when we have him.””

I love German baddies who have to announce the obvious time and again, sounding like the dumbest character ever or like a machine. If you are stupid and you are German, you had it coming. If you are stupid and you are American you simply teach symbology at Harvard.

“Sienna had never imagined, when she and Robert Langdon first met, that it would lead to this. This is more than I bargained for. When Sienna had left the hospital with Langdon, she thought they were fleeing a woman with spiked hair and a gun. ”

This is actually less than I bargained for. It seems the editor took a long nap at some point and the whole section (which I didn't want to quote because it was too long) remained delightfully muddled and written in a disarmingly bad style. Pure, undilluted Dan Brown special! Whan can be said? Go Vayentha, go!

“Sienna reached up and gently smoothed out Langdon’s Brioni suit jacket and adjusted his collar. “You look very presentable, Robert.” She gave him a demure smile, adjusted her own sweater, and set out.”

Awww…but so very typical. The lady is clearly smitten, ready to drag Langdon to bed, to altar, chain him to the wall of her bedroom or kitchen (choose the most exciting option). In short she is salivating over him. Robert says…nothing. Ah, those strong and silent types *false swoon*.

The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna, in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“VAYENTHA HAD ABANDONED her motorcycle just north of the Palazzo Vecchio and was approaching on foot along the perimeter of the Piazza della Signoria. As she wound her way through the Loggia dei Lanzi’s outdoor statuary, she could not help but notice that all the figures seemed to be enacting a variation on a single theme: violent displays of male dominance over women.
The Rape of the Sabines.
The Rape of Polyxena.”


Now I am officially setting up Vayentha’s fan club. She comes, she looks, she notices the most important things…she’s got brains, a head of spiked hair and that BMW bike! If you want to join contact me and we’ll discuss it further, maybe create a pin and so on. So what she is going to be killed soon? KILLED yes, you read it right but it's hardly a spoiler. If you are an independent female character who doesn’t fawn on Langdon your fictional life in a Dan Brown novel will be short.My heart is bleeding but it must go on.

“Sienna Brooks was in fact totally bald, her bare scalp smooth and pale, like a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy.”

Oh goody, another sinister fashion pointer. Next time you see a bald head you’ll never know whether it is a skinhead or a Robert Langdon fan. Let me tell you just this: never trust a bald head in Dan Brown’s books, be it a man or a woman. NEVER. If even your own hair decides to part with you something MUST be wrong. Look at professor Langdon. He has a good heart and is as fit as a fiddle. Not even 

one little bald patch or a pimple.

“I’ve heard of denial,” Langdon quipped blithely, “but I don’t think it exists.”

Duh. Of course it exists. Denial is a river, professor. In Egypt. You know, a country with pyramids and mummies, inhabited by Sphinxes, Pharaohs and such. Plenty of interesting symbols to explore too.

“Lira for your thoughts,” Sienna whispered beside him.Langdon glanced up, smiling wearily. “I keep thinking I’ll wake up at home and discover this was all a bad dream.”
Sienna cocked her head, looking demure. “You wouldn’t miss me if you woke up and found out I wasn’t real?”Langdon had to grin. “Yes, actually, I would miss you a little.”


Awwwww…she flirts with him again…they will marry, mark my words. Unless…after all lira doesn’t exist anymore and is worthless…oh dear, she will try to kill him or betray him, she will!!!She is bald and cannot be trusted!

Now one big fat spoiler:

“According to the provost, Sienna Brooks and Bertrand Zobrist had been longtime lovers. They were active together in some kind of underground Transhumanist movement.“

Ha! Didn’t I told ya? A bald girl = bad news! * thousands of matrons,ladies and girls, infatuated with Langdon imagine him being hugged to their more or less ample bosoms while reciting seven wonders of Florence architecture.*

And now the finale grande: Sienna is hiding in Istanbul, Turkey, everybody is chasing her, mayhem and mayhap and maypole around (just for alliteration's sake, it doesn't have to make sense, it is not that kind of book) and Langdon wants damn answers! A kingdom for an answer! Can you run away from him? No way, especially if you are a blonde female in dire need of a white knight because your previous one proved to be…rather dark.

“She began trembling, her shoulders hunched and shuddering. When she finally looked at Langdon, her eyes were overflowing with tears. “Robert,” she sobbed. “I can’t run away anymore. I have nowhere left to go.”

Awwww…still I preferred Vayentha. She had a bike and plenty of destinations to go.

“Brüder had an uneasy sense that he was missing something.”

Vayentha of course.

“Sienna, I know you want to run, but I’m not going to let you. Sooner or later you need to start trusting someone.”“I can’t …” She was sobbing. “I’m not sure I know how.”
Langdon held her tighter. “You start small. You take that first tiny step. You trust me.”"


Start creating wedding widgets - a bald bride and all that SYMBOLOGY. Or maybe not. Remember, she is bald.

“As Sienna stared up at the American professor, she felt a surge of emotion she wasn’t accustomed to feeling. Without warning, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him full on the lips. When she pulled away, her eyes were moist with tears. “I’ll miss you,” she whispered. Langdon smiled affectionately and wrapped his arms around her. “I’ll miss you, too.””

Translation: ‘Sienna, you are a babe, you truly are, even without hair; still I’ve got several babes waiting in the wings, all as hot as you and one even distantly related to Jesus Christ, so be a good girl and wait for your turn in a corner. If I feel lonely and in dire need of some bunga-bunga action I might, remember MIGHT, call you. Or not. Ciao bambina, arrivederci, grazie mille, I guess I don’t have to show the door to a woman with the IQ of 207, right?

Are you feeling the increase of the humility level? It’s caused by thousands of ladies, girls and matrons crying and blubbering over that delightful book. It ended well, it kept you entertained, it taught you about art of Florence, it broke your heard but in a positive way and in a completely controlled environment, with plenty of doctors and WHO officials around. Robert Langdon remains still single, ready to be leashed, chained, enslaved married. You can start counting your days till the next installment. Ah, Dan Brown, you charmer, you.

Final verdict:

I am speechless.

Yes, he did it again. Wrote a book worse than all the rest. The worst Dan Brown so far. The worst of the worst. A kind of achievement, don't you think? And you killed an innocent female character in a very rude fashion, Dan Brown you monster! Avenging Vayentha I pronounce your newest book...

ETA: check out Heidenkind's blog - there is a discussion about the same book we two had not so long ago!